Numerous machines have been previously suggested for automatically cooking products made of batter, such as pancakes. However, to my knowledge, none of these prior art suggested machines have been commercially adapted. The previously suggested art machines have a low throughput and/or are relatively complex.
Coleman, U.S. Pat. No. 1,847,752 and Vierling et al U.S. Pat. No. 1,809,004 disclose relatively low capacity machines having heated turn tables responsive to batter from hoppers. After the batter has been heated on one side while on the turning turn table, the batter is flipped over to the other side. After the batter has been cooked on the other side, the cooked griddle or pancake must be removed from the turn table, usually by a lifting mechanism of some type.
Increased through put is attained with the automatic griddle or pancake baking machines disclosed by each of VanArsdell, U.S. Pat. No. 2,899,914, and Brunner, U.S. Pat. No. 3,718,487. In both of these references, there is a linearly moving belt formed by a series of separate griddle plates. In VanArsdell, the griddle plates are indexed, i.e., moved in step-by-step manner, through a distance equal to the distance between the center lines of adjacent griddle plates. Downstream of the dispensing station in each of these prior art machines, there is a flipping mechanism. In VanArsdell, the pancakes are flipped by a spatula which removes the pancakes from a turned side of the indexed plates, causing the pancakes to drop onto a second belt formed of plates. In the Brunner device, the cakes are removed from the griddle plates by a transversely directed knife prior to the plates entering a flipping station, where the pancakes are flipped from one plate to another. These separate griddle plate mechanisms are relatively complex and expensive. In addition, the likelihood of flawless flipping appears to be somewhat low.
Krooss et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,225,716 discloses a griddle cake cooking apparatus wherein batter is dispensed from a hopper onto a first conveyor belt. The cakes are cooked on one side while on the first belt. The cakes slide along an inclined portion of the first belt onto a second belt positioned below the first belt. The cakes are supposed to be flipped as they move from the first belt to the second belt. The cakes, after having been cooked on the opposite side on the second belt, fall to a plate, below the end of the second belt. Both belts are greased by rollers located in greased dispensers. Immediately below the inclined plane portion of the first belt and immediately below the point where cakes are removed from the second belt are scraper blades. To flip the griddle cakes, the inclined portion of the first belt is shifted from a left to right inclination angle to a right to left inclination angle. It appears that such a flipping structure is complex, subject to failure, and unreliable. To provide correct synchronization, Krooss et al finds it necessary to provide simultaneous step wise movement of the first and second conveyor belts. It would appear that step wise motion of the conveyor belts is likely to cause a strain on them and more rapid wearing of the drive mechanisms for them than would be the case for a continuously advanced conveyor belt.
It is accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus for automatically cooking products made of batter, such as pancakes.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved apparatus for automatically and reliably cooking batter products, such as pancakes, wherein a continuously advanced, elongated conveyor belt is provided on which the pancakes are cooked.
A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved apparatus for automatically cooking batter products, such as pancakes, which apparatus is relatively reliable, inexpensive and capable of very high throughput.